April was not a good month for cycling for me. Despite the fact that spring weather finally arrived, I spent about two weeks off the bike. I had two of my wisdom teeth extracted, and had some really bad allergy problems. Shockingly, looking back on my riding, I only rode my road bike once in April.

The flipside of this has been increased productivity in other areas. I had more time for some geeky projects (and even made a little extra money), photography, hiking, and music. I am looking forward to getting more time in the saddle again, but I may need to find a better balance between riding and … well, everything else.

All told, I rode 135.10 miles in April. That’s least I’ve ridden in a full month since I started tracking my miles. That’s breaks down to 47.30 road miles,  54.30 commuting miles, and 33.00 mountain biking miles. Oh, and one half-mile errand.

March was pretty rough, with some snow, a lot of rain, and cold weather that seemed to stick around forever. I rode as much as I could, though, and my mileage broke down as follows:

Commutes (14): 82 miles
Errands (4): 15.9 miles
Road rides (11): 255.67 miles
Mountain biking: none, trails too muddy

Total for March, 2008: 341.17 miles
Year to date: 713.43 miles

For the sake of comparison, I rode 258.66 miles last March.

I started commuting by bicycle one year ago today. I’ve had a lot of fun, lost weight, improved my fitness, saved money, and decreased my impact on the environment. When I started commuting a year ago, I had no idea I’d be riding to work year-round.

I’ve ridden on beautiful days: I watched flowers bloom in the spring and enjoyed the rustling of leaves beneath my tires in the fall. I’ve ridden on hot summer days and arrived at work sweaty, but still smiling. I’ve ridden in 0-degree temperatures, days so cold condensation froze on my bicycle. I’ve ridden in rain, fog, mist, snow, sleet, freezing rain, and ice. I’ve begun to feel these are my streets.

I’ve also learned a lot, and made a lot of changes to my bicycles and my techniques in that time — and I continue to hone my commuting process. Today I rode in work clothes, whereas I normally change once I get here. This is made easier by the fact that this has been dubbed “casual week” at my company, but I’m hoping that when conditions aren’t too hot, or too wet, I can just ride in my work clothes, even when I have to dress a little more formally.

I haven’t ridden every day and I work from home sometimes, so things break down as follows:

• 151 days of bicycle commuting
• 905.10 miles

I’m looking forward to another year of commuting. Hopefully I can rely on my car even less in the next year.

What can I say? February was brutal. We had snow, ice, rain, freezing rain, and temperatures ranging from single digits to 40s or 50s. I commuted by bicycle through all of it, basically, but aside from a few weekend rides, commutes were my only rides.

Total miles ridden in February: 172.18
Commute miles: 81.60
Road miles: 87.08
Errand miles: 3.5
Mountain biking: None. Too muddy.

Here are some highlights:

• My hardest commute yet
• Some snowy commute photos
• Modified Paragon Ride

I rode 200.08 miles in January. That’s a little better than I did in December, but otherwise my lowest mileage since last February, when I got my road bike. Here’s how the mileage broke down:

Commute: 80
Errands: 1
Road: 109.68
Mountain: 9.4

That’s pretty weak, but it could have been worse. I only drove to work a couple of times when there was rain. Hopefully February will be better.